


Welcome to Wonderland

by beren



Category: Figure Skating RPF, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Asexual Character, Crossover, Crossover Pairing, Cruciatus, Death Eaters, Friends With Benefits, Imperius, M/M, Muggle/Wizard Relations, Obliviation, Serial Killers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-08
Updated: 2011-01-08
Packaged: 2017-10-14 14:38:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/150327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beren/pseuds/beren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the 2011-2012 season US Nationals there is a whole lot of extra security because some insane Brit has decided they will make the perfect stage for a crime. Without even trying Johnny ends up right in the middle of everything, which results in him making a new friend in Harry Potter and finding out a whole lot about the world and, surprisingly, Evan Lysacek he didn't know.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Facing the Enemy

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://lattebiscotti.livejournal.com/profile)[**lattebiscotti**](http://lattebiscotti.livejournal.com/) in [the charity vgift](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/647121.html) meme thingy. I have no excuse why it took so long, I do hope you enjoy it. Thanks to Soph for the beta.

  
  
  
  
**Entry tags:**   
|   
[category: slash](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/category%3A%20slash), [ch_story: wonderland](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/ch_story%3A%20wonderland), [fandom: crossovers](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/fandom%3A%20crossovers), [fandom: harry potter](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/fandom%3A%20harry%20potter), [fandom: ice skating rps](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/fandom%3A%20ice%20skating%20rps), [fictype: long fic](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/fictype%3A%20long%20fic), [genre: fantasy](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/genre%3A%20fantasy), [info: vgift](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/info%3A%20vgift), [pairing: is - johnny weir/evan lysacek](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/pairing%3A%20is%20-%20johnny%20weir%2Fevan%20lysacek), [pairing: xo - harry/johnny weir](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/pairing%3A%20xo%20-%20harry%2Fjohnny%20weir), [rating: r to nc17](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/rating%3A%20r%20to%20nc17), [type: fiction](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/type%3A%20fiction)  
  
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It was obvious something was wrong as soon as Johnny walked up to pick up his registration for Nationals. He was given his pack and the usual speech, but then he and Galina were ushered into a room behind the registration desk. Inside were a hell of a lot of faces Johnny recognised and he took a seat somewhere near the back. He was running late, so he had registered later than he had wanted and it looked as if almost everyone else was there before him.

Johnny shrugged at Galina and pulled out his phone, settling in for what was clearly going to be a wait.

"Hello," was the word that brought him back from tweeting and chatting to Tanith and he looked up to see someone on the little stage at the front, "sorry to have kept you all waiting."

Quiet descended over the room; skaters could be an unruly bunch, but not when it was important.

"My name is Harry Potter," the man at the front said, "and I'm a member of the British police force."

Johnny sat up and began to pay attention; this was clearly going to be interesting. Harry was average height, had black hair that was either artfully styled or completely wild and the most stunning green eyes. Since Johnny could see them from where he was sitting, he had to assume they were magnificent close up.

"My apologies for having to bring you all here when you all want to be settling in, but we have a security situation you all need to be aware of," Harry continued speaking.

On the screen behind him the face of a man of about sixty appeared.

"This is Braken Parkinson," Harry said and Johnny did his best to pay attention to what was going on and not how nicely Harry's pants lined the curve of his ass when the Englishman turned and indicated the photo, "and he is, in the vernacular, a very bad man. I am head of the task force charged with bringing him to justice. While I will not bore you with his crimes, this briefing is to warn anyone who may see him not to approach him."

The situation was beginning to sound far too serious for Johnny's liking.

"Parkinson comes across as a perfectly rational and ordinary human being, but he is not," Harry continued to explain. "He enjoys causing other's harm and our intel says he has picked this event for his latest game. If any of you see him, please report it to any member of the security staff immediately."

It was more than a little shocking; usually the most dangerous thing about a skating event was how many divas were in the same building.

"There are information packs for all of you," Harry said and nodded at one of his associates. "Please, don't worry too much, but do be alert. Does anyone have any questions?"

Johnny saw Charlie White put up his hand.

"Yes?"

"Why did he pick here?"

It was a question Johnny wanted answered as well.

"From what we can tell, it's the most highly publicised event occurring in this part of the world at the moment," Harry replied as if he had expected the question. "Parkinson enjoys an audience."

Johnny stuck up his hand; it just seemed too weird.

"Why is this man even in the USA?" he asked as soon as Harry acknowledged him.

"He fled the UK just before we closed in on him," the bespectacled man replied in a very efficient tone. "He had relatives in this area, which is why we believe he came here."

It all sounded so reasonable, but Johnny couldn't help thinking something was odd. There were a couple of other questions, but nothing that really gave any more information and Johnny left with everyone else, feeling more than a little dissatisfied by the whole situation. However, as he headed for his hotel room he realised he had more important things to worry about, after all it was his big comeback year.

Having leafed through the information pack, he put it away and mentally shook himself. He had a competition to win.

====

All the extra security had everyone a little jumpy, but Johnny was doing his best to ignore it. So far it seemed to be working and, since he was in second after the short program, he was in a buoyant mood, even if he did just want to sit down for a while. He knew his free program was spectacular, like nothing the judges would have seen from him before and now he had to focus on that. The fact that he was ahead of Evan made him want to giggle very ungraciously, but Jeremy was currently looking on better form than both of them, so he needed to focus.

Johnny looked in his bag and sighed; he'd left his gloves in the changing room. Turning, he began to walk back the way he had just come. When he stepped round the corner towards the locker room all thoughts of focus flew out of his head. The only person who had been left in there when he walked out had been Adam, but Adam wasn't inside anymore. In fact Adam was in the corridor, only Adam wasn't walking and Adam wasn't being carried, Adam was floating. Adam appeared to be unconscious and he was hanging in mid air behind a hooded man who had a stick pointed at the young skater. Johnny couldn't help it, he made a noise of shock and instantly the man looked up at him. All Johnny could see was some sort of mask and his self preservation instincts kicked in.

He did what any self respecting figure skater would do, he threw a skate at the man's head and yelled at the top of his lungs for help.

His aim was off and he only managed to hit the other man on the shoulder, but he must have broken the man's concentration, because Adam fell to the floor with a rather sickening crunch. The stick also went sailing onto the floor, where the man dived after it; Johnny just kept yelling.

When he heard footsteps coming from behind him he had never been so glad to hear anything in his life. The man in the mask didn't seem so pleased and ran in the opposite direction just as Agent Potter and another one of his men rounded the corner.

"He went that way," Johnny said and pointed.

"Stay here," Potter told his subordinate and then disappeared after the fugitive.

That was the point where the adrenaline began to wear off a bit and Johnny realised he had seen things that just weren't possible.

"He was floating," he said, waving his hand at Adam, "in mid air, he was just floating."

"Everything is under control now, Sir," Potter's subordinate said, which was no use whatsoever, "just try and stay calm."

Johnny wanted to hit him, but settled for going over and checking on Adam instead. He'd done basic first aid in the dim and distant past; very useful for training, but he didn't know enough to do more than check that Adam was breathing. There was a rather large welt above Adam's right eye and Johnny had had feeling the young skater was going to have a nasty case of concussion when he woke up.

Pulling off his jacket, he lifted Adam's head and put it under it as the officer of the law stood around looking helpless. He was beginning to think their extra security were really odd, which brought him back to the whole floating thing and he almost freaked out.

"He's gone."

Johnny looked up as Agent Potter reappeared.

"He had this stick and somehow he was making Adam float," he said before he could talk himself out of it.

It was only as he looked properly that he realised there was a very similar looking stick in Potter's hand.

"Oh," he said.

"Sorry, Mr Weir," Potter said and lifted the stick thing. "Obliviate."

Harry watched Johnny Weir's eyes go blank. He hated it, because those eyes were usually so alive. He wasn't a figure skating follower, but he had noticed Johnny the moment the man had asked him a question in the event briefing. If he hadn't been so busy trying to keep idiot wizards and witches from giving away just how little they knew about the Muggle world he might have been very interested.

When he had been sent to the US and then put in the middle of a Muggle sporting event he had almost quit on the spot, but Parkinson was a very dangerous man. At least Harry had half a clue how the Muggle world actually worked, unlike a good percentage of the men and women who were supposed to be backing him up. The whole situation was a magical nightmare waiting to happen.

"You saw a man carrying Adam Rippon out of the men's changing rooms. You defended yourself and Adam and the assailant ran off," he said with his wand still trained on the skater.

Johnny nodded and Harry ended the spell, slipping his wand back into his sleeve.

"Completely gone?" Johnny asked as if they were just continuing the conversation.

"Completely."

Harry was pretty sure Parkinson had fled outside the anti-Apparition wards and then fled to wherever he was holed up in the area.

"I have men searching now," Harry said in his best professional manner, "but I think, more importantly, we need to get Mr Rippon some help."

The way Johnny just went along with him was a common effect of shock, but Harry had the feeling that it would not stay that way for long. Throwing a skate at Parkinson had taken real guts. He had Johnny make a statement as Adam Rippon was carted off to the hospital and then there was the joy of dealing with the press. Parkinson was proving to be even more slippery than Harry had imagined and there was absolutely no sign of the Death Eater anywhere.

It took three hours to get everything sorted out, by which time Harry was getting to know Johnny quite well. The man who was currently second in the men's competition, as far as Harry could gather, was beginning to come back to his normal temperament by the time they were finished. Johnny was nothing if not helpful, but Harry could tell there was annoyance bubbling under the surface.

Harry had been chasing Parkinson for three months now, ever since the man's crimes had come to light back at home. When other Death Eaters had given up or just disappeared, it seemed Parkinson had had other ideas. The man had been prosecuted after the war and done a short spell in Azkaban, but he had appeared to be small fry. As they had found out, however, the man had just gone underground with his crimes. Parkinson was a serial rapist and murderer, the like of which Harry had never personally dealt with before and the man targeted Muggles.

That was why, when Johnny started making noises about returning to his hotel, Harry made a quick decision. Leaving Bachelor, his second in command, in control of the hunt for Parkinson, Harry decided to handle Johnny's situation personally and make sure there were no repercussions.

"Johnny," he said, Johnny had insisted on first names almost straight away, "I can take you back to your hotel now if you would like."

Johnny looked kind of surprised.

"I can just get a taxi," the skater said and looked around at the organised chaos of the incident room.

"I'm afraid you're stuck with me," Harry replied with a smile, "from now until we catch Parkinson consider me your bodyguard."

He had hoped to gloss over that for a while, but it was not to be. Johnny appeared shocked.

"Bodyguard?"

"Parkinson is a class one psychopath," Harry replied with a nod, "and you upset his plans. He has a penchant for revenge, so I will be making sure he doesn't get the chance."

Johnny paled a little at that, but the spirit Harry knew was under the surface was clear in the skater's eyes.

"And I thought my quad was the worst thing I had to worry about," was Johnny's dry comment on the matter.

Harry smiled again; he knew all about being a target and he was thoroughly impressed with Johnny.

"I'll worry about Parkinson, you just worry about the skating," he replied and indicated the way out.

It took ten minutes to get through the reporters who all wanted Johnny's version of events, but they did eventually end up in the car Harry had requisitioned. It took another twenty minutes to make it through traffic to Johnny's hotel, but it all went without incident, which Harry counted as a plus.

The gaggle of girls who pounced on Johnny as soon as Harry and Johnny stepped into the lobby delayed them for another ten minutes, but Harry learnt even more about his companion in the short time. Harry had never been very good with dealing with the general public as a celebrity; he had always been embarrassed and shied away, but Johnny seemed to have it down to an art form. By the time they actually made it up Johnny's room, Harry had to admit he was a bit of a fan himself.

Of course that didn't change the fact that Johnny was just about vibrating with tension, Harry could see it and he wasn't exactly sure how he could help. Well, technically he could think of several ways, but seducing victims of a crime was frowned upon. Johnny had put on a good front for his angels, but it was beginning to crack in private.

"Do you fancy some dinner?" Harry asked, since it was about the only innocent thing he could think of to suggest. "I can ring down and have one of my guys bring us something up."

Dropping his bag on the bed, Johnny finally turned and looked at him. There was something raw in the figure skater's eyes and Harry felt as if he'd been snared.

"I'm not hungry," Johnny said and stepped towards him.

When Johnny grabbed him by the tie and pulled him in for a kiss, Harry didn't exactly object. The back of his mind that sounded far too much like Hermione most of the time was yelling 'unprofessional' at him, but the rest pretty much went with the flow and kissed back. He even let Johnny back him up into the nearest wall, where they did their very best to devour each other.

He was more than a little surprised and disappointed when Johnny growled and pushed away from him.

"Sorry," Johnny apologised, not looking at him, "it's the shock ... it ... you've been eyeing up my ass for the last hour and ... I ... I can't do this."

"Johnny," Harry said gently and caught the other man's arm, "just breathe, it's okay."

His body was throbbing with need, but he had better self control than that, so he took a deep breath. Johnny did look up at him then and he could still see the longing there, but Johnny seemed to have himself firmly under orders.

"Why don't you explain why you think we can't do this?" Harry suggested.

He was nothing if not willing to take risks.

"Competition," Johnny said, reluctantly pulling his arm away; "my coach has rules and would kill me. My coach is a scary, scary woman and more frightening than you."

That made Harry smile, at least it wasn't something he had done.

"I better go and have a shower or something," Johnny decided after a moment, "try and relax."

Harry was pretty sure figure skaters with shoulders that were as stiff as a board wouldn't do too well in competition anyway, so he had an idea.

"Look," he said, before Johnny could wander away, "how about a massage."

That earned him a very pointed look.

"You are aware that is the oldest trick in the book," Johnny sounded unimpressed and Harry laughed.

"Honestly, I swear," he replied, "your virtue is safe. I actually had lessons a few years ago and I've been told I have magic hands."

He wiggled his fingers in an encouraging gesture.

"Your back's ramrod straight," he added in a cajoling tone, "you need to loosen up for tomorrow."

"Next you'll be telling me sex is good for relaxation," Johnny said and raised an eyebrow.

"It is," Harry replied with a grin, "but you have my word of honour as an employee of Her Majesty's government that I will not make any inappropriate attempts on your person."

That actually made Johnny smile for the first time and Harry liked that smile.

"But what do you get out of it?" Johnny asked and put his hands on his hips.

"Well I get to see you semi-naked," Harry replied, perfectly happy to flirt outrageously, "and I'm sure we can come up with something for after competition."

That drew a rather thoughtful expression from Johnny and Harry felt himself being scrutinised carefully.

"I don't like being in debt," Johnny finally said and Harry tried to not be too disappointed, "so I have a better idea."

Harry was somewhat shocked when Johnny pushed him against the wall and then knelt down.

"What?" he asked as Johnny reached for his belt buckle.

Johnny gave him a very mischievous grin and Harry could see the tension already beginning to leave the younger man.

"I'm not allowed to have sex," Johnny said, clearly pleased with himself, "but that doesn't mean I can't help you along. If your hands are as good as you say, it should be a good trade."

It appeared Johnny was very direct when he wanted to be, because before Harry could so much as comment on that plan, Johnny had him out of his underwear and in hand. Thanks to the whole kissing and arse ogling Harry had been doing, it didn't take a huge amount to bring him to full attention. In his opinion it was Johnny's hands that were the clever ones. He barely even saw the condom before it was rolled over his erect cock and then Johnny was sucking him and sensible thought became way overrated.

"Oh Merlin," he groaned out as he discovered that Johnny mouth was clever at more than just talking.

"Never been called that before," Johnny commented as he pulled off and then grinned mischievously and dived back in.

Harry could have been forgiven for forgetting his own name for a while under the onslaught. Johnny showed him that that innocent face hid a whole expanse of skill as he was sucked, licked, nibbled very gently and basically driven completely to distraction. Several times he wished he had been lying down, because his legs were shaking very dangerously. His reactions would have been embarrassing if Johnny hadn't been simply that good.

He finally had to do something, so laced his fingers in Johnny's black hair, Johnny hummed cheerfully and Harry almost lost it on the spot. If they gave out gold medals for blow jobs, Harry was pretty sure Johnny should be on top of the podium. It was so intense that his orgasm actually took him by surprise and that hadn't happened since he was a teenager. He literally saw stars and came as Johnny sucked him until he couldn't take it anymore.

Every nerve in his body was jangling and he could barely catch his breath.

"Stop," he begged as Johnny enticed aftershock followed by aftershock out of him, "please stop."

When Johnny finally pulled off, he had a very smug expression on his face.

"You, Mr Weir, are evil," Harry said as his nose even tingled.

"All figure skaters are overachieving perfectionists," Johnny told him with a wicked smile; "we take everything very seriously."

Harry had the sudden vision of a whole army of figure skaters all on their knees competing to give the best blow job known to man; it didn't help his equilibrium at all.

"Evil, totally evil," he said and slid down the wall.

Johnny laughed and sat down next to him. If nothing else, the younger man did look more relaxed than he had done.

"Give me a few minutes and I'll make good on my promise," Harry said and wondered if he had the motor control to tidy himself up yet.

"I'll give you as long as it takes me to freshen up," Johnny said with a smile and then bounced up and towards the bathroom.

A bonus, was it seemed to have taken Johnny's mind off the whole Parkinson situation so Harry counted it as a win/win.

=====

"So," Johnny said, pushing himself up on one arm and giving Harry a dangerous smile, "what's the story."

It was difficult to miss that Johnny's eyes were on his wedding ring. Harry had spent over an hour giving Johnny the best massage he knew how and they had been lying on the bed cuddling for a while. Johnny seemed to be a very tactile person and Harry wasn't complaining, even if he knew it couldn't lead anywhere.

"Long and complicated," he replied and twisted the ring a little.

"It's not as if we have anywhere to be, Honey," Johnny came back almost instantly.

Harry didn't talk much about his personal life with anyone outside the family, but he liked Johnny. He was also aware that Johnny was very unlikely to ever repeat anything he heard. Before flying out, he had researched all the American ice skaters and he knew quite a lot about all of them.

"Schooldays romance," Harry said and smiled fondly to himself.

Those had been some crazy times.

"Separated?" Johnny asked gently.

"Nope," Harry replied and gave Johnny his full attention, "very happily married actually, we have three children. When I told her about you she made me promise to let her know if figure skaters were as flexible in bed as on the ice."

Johnny actually appeared shocked and Harry wasn't really surprised; his and Ginny's relationship was not exactly conventional.

"When did you have a chance to tell her about me?" Johnny asked, eyes wide in surprise.

"About ten minutes after I first saw you," Harry admitted with a grin. "Even police men are allowed to have goals."

That drew a genuine laugh out of his companion.

"So an open marriage then?" Johnny did not seem to be able to curb his curiosity.

"Sort of," Harry replied with a shrug, "like I said, it's complicated."

The way Johnny was looking at him, Harry knew he was not going to get away with that.

"Okay," he said with a smile, "Ginny, that's my wife, and I fell in love when I was sixteen and she was fifteen. It was a difficult time and it gave us this kind of unbreakable bond. Unfortunately, when we came to the part where we actually had sex it did nothing for either of us."

"Really?" Johnny asked, he sounded fascinated.

"Not a thing."

It had possibly been the most awkward sexual experience of Harry's life; he remembered it very clearly.

"We were a bit worried for a while, but I have this friend who knows everything about everything and she figured it all out," he continued, since he was now into the explaining so deep there was no backing out. "Most awkward conversation known to man, but Hermione knew her stuff. Ginny doesn't really like sex. She likes the touching and the cuddling, but it's about the companionship for her; she doesn't get aroused. Given that I was under the impression I was straight at the time, I assumed I was the same and that's why we had been drawn together. We loved each other, we both wanted a family, so after school we got married anyway."

"Awww, that's so romantic," Johnny said and Harry could almost see the hearts in Johnny's eyes.

"It wasn't long after that Ginny noticed what had completely escaped me."

"Girls do nothing for you, but boys are an entirely different matter?" Johnny guessed.

Harry smiled to himself. "Precisely."

It was still difficult to believe how blind he had been.

"My wife sat me down and explained to me I was gay," he said, remembering the day vividly. "Then she set me up with one of her brothers."

Johnny's mouth fell open.

"You're kidding?"

Harry shook his head.

"Nope," he replied and grinned; "she set me up with Charlie, her second oldest brother. Told us to have fun and that I should come back when I'd worked out the sexual tension. Of course she was right. Now she vets all of my potential fuck buddies and demands massages and hair brushing when I'm at home. I'm just very discrete because of the kids; they're not old enough to understand yet."

At that Johnny nodded.

====

Johnny woke up to the sound of knocking on his door and realised he was wrapped in strong, warm arms. It was a nice way to wake up.

"Johnnik," Galina's voice came through the door and he was suddenly very awake.

"My coach," he said, freeing himself from the waking Harry and slipping out of bed.

Normally when he opened the door on competition days Galina would just hand him pomegranate juice and tell him when to be downstairs, so he wasn't prepared when she stepped into his room. She did have a glass of juice in hand, but her eyes zeroed in on where Harry was still in bed.

"We didn't," he said before Galina could accuse him of breaking the rules, "Harry is being my bodyguard and he just shared the bed."

"Really?" Galina asked in a tone that suggested she was not convinced.

"Good morning, Ma'am," Harry said as if on cue, climbing out of bed and pulling on a pair of pants, "I apologise for my state of undress."

They had both ended up wearing t-shirts and underwear to sleep, a precaution Johnny was now very glad of.

"He was going to sleep on the couch," Johnny said and pointed to it, "but can you imagine a human being on that thing."

It was only a two-seater and it was a good excuse, even if Harry had never even suggested it.

"And if you need any more proof," he added, downing the juice to appease his coach, "wedding ring."

Galina never had to know that Harry had been perfectly happy to sleep with him.

"How long do I have?" he asked, hoping that swamping Galina would give him more of a chance of getting away with no more questions.

"Twenty minutes," Galina said, but placed a hand on his arm. "You are well, yes?"

Then it dawned on him that he hadn't spoken to anyone since the night before and there had been press everywhere on the way back to the hotel. The whole story had to be all over the place by now. He placed his hand over Galina's and nodded.

"I'm fine," he promised faithfully, "and Officer Potter is making sure I stay that way. He's even a trained masseur, some sports therapists could learn a thing or two."

The way Galina looked at Harry then was not friendly and Johnny knew he needed to make sure his coach understood him completely.

"Not that I didn't want more," he said, switching to Russian, "but the massage was perfectly innocent. Harry is the only reason I got any sleep last night and he was the perfect gentleman."

He suffered under Galina's scrutiny for a good thirty seconds until she finally nodded.

"Downstairs, soon," was what she said, before pecking him on both cheeks and leaving.

To some it would have seemed simply strange Eastern European behaviour; to Johnny it said quite how much Galina had been worrying about him. Standing up straight, he put himself in the correct mindset for competition; he had a title to win.

"Now I know why you had willpower last night," Harry said from behind him; "your coach is enough to scare anyone off sex."

Johnny just smiled; he needed a coach as fierce as he was.

====

Johnny was on a high; he was in first place. It was incredible, amazing in fact, and he headed back to the locker room as fast as he could, because he didn't want to jinx it. Jeremy hadn't skated yet and neither had Evan, but Johnny wasn't just in the lead, he was well in the lead with a very good score. Anyone else was going to have to be on perfect form to beat him. It was possible, but he had done everything he needed to do.

When Harry was there to escort him right to the locker room door he couldn't help grinning at his almost lover in what was probably a very salacious way. He wasn't quite sure if a blowjob counted as making another guy a lover or not, but that didn't really matter, because he had every intention of making it completely irrelevant as soon as possible.

"You were amazing," Harry said and genuinely seemed to mean it.

"And no more competition for a while," he replied, deciding that the hallway was private enough for what he wanted to do.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the locker room door open and the perfect person appeared in the corridor. He would have known that ridiculously tall frame and propensity for black anywhere, even without a proper look.

"What do you think of the idea of continuing what we started last night?" he asked, pretending he hadn't seen Evan a few feet away.

"Well I am your bodyguard," Harry replied with a grin that probably matched his for wickedness, "but I'm on duty for a few more hours."

Johnny had a sudden flash of Harry in a uniform and it did nothing to help his self control.

"How about just a little kiss to keep me going?" he asked and leaned in without waiting for permission.

With his skates on he was taller than Harry, which was novel and Harry didn't object in the slightest when he initiated the kiss. There was nothing little about it and Johnny let himself sink in to the passion.

"Get a room, Weir," Evan said spitefully and all but pushed past him.

When he looked round Evan was glaring like he had just done something unforgivable, so Johnny smiled sweetly back.

"Oh I intend to, Lysacek," he said in a perfectly pleasant tone, "I intend to."

Evan headed to the rink looking very out of sorts and Johnny couldn't help feeling pleased with himself.

"You know," Harry said when Johnny turned back to face the man he had every desire to screw through the wall, "he pays far more attention to you than is healthy."

Johnny shrugged and gave Harry another peck on the lips.

"We've been competing against each other through all our formative years," he said, but he was much more interested in what he and Harry would be getting up to once the competition was over, "it's a small world. I'm probably the most interesting thing in it."

That made Harry laugh, which was precisely what he had intended. He liked Harry, the Englishman had a very well developed sense of humour.

"Well, since I have escorted you and your ego safely to the locker room," Harry said, still smiling, "I must bid you farewell. I need to check in with my people, but I'll be back to make sure you get safely to the medal ceremony."

That made Johnny beam; he liked that Harry had faith in him.

====

Watching the final skaters was not a torture Johnny put himself through. He remained safely in the locker room waiting to find out the result. When Evan opened the door and beckoned to him, he didn't think anything of actually going over. It didn't occur to him to wonder why Evan would want to speak to him. What he really didn't expect was for Evan to not be waiting on the other side of the door. When he stuck his head out, Evan was further down the corridor at another door and beckoned to him again.

"Lysacek," he said, not interested in playing games.

Evan just glared at him and beckoned. He really wasn't sure what made him move, but somehow Evan had always been able to make him do things for no good reason. Making an idiot of himself in the press had happened a couple of times and he followed as Evan disappeared. It was only as he walked into another room and he heard someone whisper something that he realised all was not well. Evan was just standing there and the door behind him banged shut.

The light in the room suddenly became brighter and that was when he saw the man he had seen attack Adam. The man seemed even taller now and imposing; his mask showing under the dark hood. The man was holding some sort of stick and something about it screamed danger. Fear raced up Johnny's spine and he couldn't help looking at Evan. He had seen a lot of blank expressions on Evan's face before, but nothing like the nothingness he looked into at that moment. It was completely obvious that something had happened to Evan, something bad.

The door wasn't that far away and Johnny couldn't stop his eyes from betraying his plans.

"If you run I will kill him," the masked man said and pointed the stick at Evan.

Johnny froze.

He was terrified; this guy was a certified crazy and Johnny seemed to have all his attention. Something insane was going on and Johnny couldn't explain it and he couldn't get away. A stick should not be dangerous; a stick should be just a stick, but the stick seemed to be able to do things. Something tickled at the back of Johnny's mind; something that said, 'you have seen this before'. It made him believe.

"I had the perfect spectacle planned," the lunatic told him, waving the stick in his direction. "It would have been magnificent, but you had to go and ruin it."

Johnny had nothing to say; he had no idea how to talk himself out of this one.

"I..." he tried.

"Shut up," said the very English voice.

He snapped his mouth shut so fast his teeth clicked together.

"Potter won't get here in time now, though," the masked man said and laughed. "This time you pay."

Then the man said something that sounded like 'cruise control' and a flash of light came straight at Johnny. When it hit he couldn't help himself; he screamed. His body was wrenched from his control and it felt as if every nerve was registering pain. He'd broken bones before and it felt as if each bone in his body was being broken and reset over and over again. His skin felt as if it was being flayed off of him and his heart and lungs seemed to be being ripped from his body and shredded at the same time. Nothing in the world could have prepared him for the agony and it seemed to go on and on and on, forever.

When it stopped, he found himself face down on the floor, arms and legs twisted at unnatural angles where he had fallen. All he could do was sob in relief that the pain was gone.

"People go mad in minutes." He whimpered as the masked man spoke to him, "let's see how long you last."

Then there was that terrible word again and he screamed some more. It was like the worst nightmare come to life and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Whenever he had been in pain before there was something else to distract him, something to keep him going until help took it away, but there was nothing else. Only the agony existed and it filled him and consumed him and made him wish to die. His body didn't even seem to be capable of shutting down to save him.

Time was measured in waves of pain.

He could not hide from it, even as his mind tried to shy away. It was the most terrible experience he had ever known and he knew why people went mad. He felt as if his mind was breaking as the agony consumed him.

This time when it finally stopped it did not completely die. It left him there gasping for breath on the floor, but his nerves still jangled with it. He could not move as his muscles twitched with the remembered agony and in that moment he would have done absolutely anything to make it not come back.

When someone touched him he cried out and his voice was hoarse and his throat raw from screaming. He would have pulled away, but his mind and body seemed to be very badly connected and he was helpless.

"Johnny?" he heard Harry's anxious voice. "Johnny can you hear me?"

He could, but anything above instinctive reactions were beyond him. He felt himself being turned over carefully by two pairs of hands, but it was too much. Without something holding him to consciousness, moving took him beyond his endurance and everything went black.

 **End of Part 1**


	2. Facing the Enemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At the 2011-2012 season US Nationals there is a whole lot of extra security because some insane Brit has decided they will make the perfect stage for a crime. Without even trying Johnny ends up right in the middle of everything, which results in him making a new friend in Harry Potter and finding out a whole lot about the world and, surprisingly, Evan Lysacek he didn't know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for [](http://lattebiscotti.livejournal.com/profile)[**lattebiscotti**](http://lattebiscotti.livejournal.com/) in [the charity vgift](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/647121.html) meme thingy. I have no excuse why it took so long, I do hope you enjoy it. Thanks to Soph for the beta.

  
  
  
  
**Entry tags:**   
|   
[category: slash](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/category%3A%20slash), [ch_story: wonderland](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/ch_story%3A%20wonderland), [fandom: crossovers](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/fandom%3A%20crossovers), [fandom: harry potter](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/fandom%3A%20harry%20potter), [fandom: ice skating rps](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/fandom%3A%20ice%20skating%20rps), [fictype: long fic](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/fictype%3A%20long%20fic), [genre: fantasy](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/genre%3A%20fantasy), [info: vgift](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/info%3A%20vgift), [pairing: is - johnny weir/evan lysacek](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/pairing%3A%20is%20-%20johnny%20weir%2Fevan%20lysacek), [pairing: xo - harry/johnny weir](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/pairing%3A%20xo%20-%20harry%2Fjohnny%20weir), [rating: r to nc17](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/rating%3A%20r%20to%20nc17), [type: fiction](http://beren-writes.livejournal.com/tag/type%3A%20fiction)  
  
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Harry had seen the effect of the Cruciatus curse too many times and he tried to hope as Johnny was swept off by the healers. The fact that Johnny had reacted to him after he had dealt with Parkinson was a good sign, but Johnny had given no indications of consciousness since. He'd left his subordinate to deal with the subdued criminal and decided to handle the issue with Lysacek and Johnny himself.

The fact that both men had been under the influence of an Unforgivable curse made the whole situation that more complicated. With Imperio and Cruciatius changing memories was a very bad idea, which meant that there was no easy way out of the issue. The news that Johnny was hurt had leaked almost immediately and Harry was well aware that meant he would be dealing with at least one member of Johnny's family sooner rather than later.

They had talked a lot the night they had spent in Johnny's hotel room and Harry knew more than he had ever expected to about his friend's family. He was very unsurprised when, after what seemed like an age of waiting around and checking in with his people, Patti Weir was shown into the same room where he was waiting.

"Mrs Weir," he said immediately, standing up and stepping towards here, "you must be exhausted, please come and sit down."

"I don't want to sit down," was the very direct response, "I want to see my son."

"He's still with the healers," Harry replied, taking the vague hostility in his stride; "they are stabilising his condition."

Prolonged exposure of more than a few seconds to the Cruciatus curse caused terrible nerve damage, Harry knew the healers would be working for a while yet. Patti Weir frowned at him, but did eventually take the seat he was offering.

"Mrs Weir," he said as he sat down beside her, "I'm very sorry this happened. I take full responsibility."

There was no way Parkinson should have made it inside their security cordon, and Harry felt incredibly guilty. When he found out how it had happened, heads were going to roll.

"Did you do your job?" Patti asked simply, looking him straight in the eye.

"Yes," he replied, without even thinking about hedging his response.

"Then you have nothing to be sorry for," was the surprising response. "They told me you have the man who hurt Johnny in custody."

"We do," Harry said with a nod.

"Then just make sure he gets what's coming to him."

Patti Weir, it seemed, was a remarkable woman.

"We will, Ma'am," Harry replied without so much as considering a different answer.

"Call me Patti," was her response and it seemed she was as averse to formality as her son was.

"Then please call me Harry, Patti."

It was a better start than he had expected. Of course now came the difficult bit; he had to break what had actually happened to Johnny's mum. Due to the severity of the crime and its particular circumstances, legally Johnny and his immediate family were allowed to know the truth and if Johnny woke up he was going to need all the support he could get.

"Patti," he said, trying to begin gently, "did you see anything unusual as you were shown in here?"

That earned him a very speculative look.

"This hospital is not like any I've ever been in before," Patti replied after a few moments, "at least not this part of it."

Harry nodded, hoping to encourage her. St Elizabeth's was both a Muggle and a Wizarding hospital, with the front half being for Muggle patients and the back for wizards and witches. The Americans seemed to like their magical and Muggle worlds not quite so far apart as in Britain.

"Is this to do with what happened to Johnny?"

"Yes," he replied simply, "this is a very specialised hospital whose staff are the only ones in the area who can treat Johnny."

Patti looked aghast.

"What did that monster do to my boy?"

"Patti," he said very gently, "what I'm going to tell you is going to seem very hard to believe, but please, just hear me out and then I'll show you something to prove it, okay?"

From the looks of things Patti was a pretty unshakable woman, because she nodded once.

"That monster isn't an ordinary man," Harry explained carefully, "he is a wizard."

Patti opened her mouth almost instantly to protest.

"So am I," Harry hurried on, "and everyone in this part of the hospital. We live alongside you in secret. The wizard who hurt Johnny used a curse on him that is so bad we call it an Unforgivable. Usually normal people aren't told about magic, but because of the severity of the crime I'm allowed to reveal the truth to you. When Johnny wakes up, he's going to need you."

By appealing to Patti's motherly instincts he hoped she wouldn't yell at him or anything. Very slowly, so as not to startle her, he pulled his wand from the holster he had up his sleeve.

"I'm just going to show you a little magic," he said and pointed the wand at the sheet of paper on the desk.

With a flick of his wrist he silently cast Wingardium Leviosa and the paper lifted into the air, floating there gently.

"Oh my," Patti said and just stared for a while.

With another flick he cancelled the spell.

"Now," he said in a sympathetic tone, you must have questions.

Never in his life did he expect what came next; it appeared Patti Weir was a woman who liked to know exactly what she was getting in to. Her questioning was like the third degree.

====

"How is he?"

Johnny floated back towards consciousness and heard voices. He had vague memories of drifting in and out before, but nothing that made any sense.

"He's responding well to the treatment," and unfamiliar person said; "the nerve damage will be fully repaired in a couple more days."

"And the rest?"

That sounded like Harry.

"We won't know until he wakes up," the unfamiliar person explained in a sympathetic tone, "if he wakes up. With Cruciatus it's so difficult to tell how much mental damage there is. If his mind has folded in on itself for protection he may not come back at all. He has been unconscious for three days; that's not a good sign."

That didn't sound good, but then Johnny realised that he was in fact awake and so he had nothing to worry about. His thoughts seemed to be moving really slowly and at a level just under moron.

"He was held under for nearly fifteen minutes," Harry said quietly; "it could just be the strain on his body."

"It could be," the other person said, but in a tone that suggested it was unlikely.

It was that which made Johnny decide he'd had enough and he needed to let them know he was conscious. That meant opening his eyes, so he tried. It felt something akin to trying to pull a quad after skating for three days straight with very little rest. He managed to flick his eyelids open for a moment, but they seemed to be made of lead or something. It was very frustrating and he made an annoyed little noise in the back of his throat as he tried again.

"Johnny?"

This time he managed to open his eyes for a little longer and got a flash of Harry looking down at him or at least his brain pattern matched the fuzzy image as Harry. He did his very best to say something and all that came out was a mumble, but it was better than nothing.

"Mr Weir," the unfamiliar person said, "please look at me if you can."

He made another noise of annoyance and did his best. This time he managed it for a second or so, but nothing was really in focus, or at least staying in focus.

"That's good," the woman talking to him said. "I'm Healer Gladstone, I've been looking after you. It's very good to see you waking up. I know you must be disorientated, so I want you to try and relax and let me help you."

That was easier said than done when your body seemed to not like you very much, but he did his best. He relaxed as well as he could as someone placed their hand beneath his head and carefully lifted it. When something was put to his lips and liquid was gently tipped into his mouth he did his utmost not to just spit it out or cough it all everywhere. He half succeeded.

Almost immediately, however, he began to feel a little more with it and he actually managed to open his eyes properly. He blinked up at the woman helping him as she gently put his head back on the pillow.

"Is that a little better?" she asked with a smile.

"Yes," he actually managed to say and he tried to add 'thank you', but it was more of a jumble than what he had meant.

Healer Gladstone seemed to get it though, because her smile widened.

"You're welcome," she said and pulled out a stick.

Johnny tried to flinch through the bed.

"Johnny," Harry's voice and a hand on his shoulder dragged his attention away, "it's okay, you're safe now. Healer Gladstone just needs to cast some diagnostic spells to make sure you're reacting well to the potion. It won't hurt."

It all made sense in a fantasy novel kind of way, but Johnny decided maybe he had gone a little mad.

"I'm sorry, Mr Weir," the woman said sincerely, "I had forgotten you have only seen a wand when it was used to hurt you. I promise this won't be uncomfortable at all and it will be over in a second. Is it alright if I proceed?"

The spike of fear had been so strong that Johnny could feel his heart racing even after the words of reassurance. The memory of the pain was still so close.

"Okay," he said eventually, the adrenaline in his system at least making his mouth more responsive.

The healer pointed her wand at him and said something he did not understand and he tensed; he couldn't help himself. However, a soft yellow light floated out of the end of her wand and slowly enveloped him and he could barely feel it. There was a slight tingling in his skin, but it was actually kind of relaxing and he slowly found his muscles releasing.

"Thank you, Mr Weir," Healer Gladstone said with a smile as she flicked her wand and the light disappeared, "you seem to be responding very well."

"Johnny," he said automatically, "Mr Weir is my dad."

"Johnny," the woman acknowledged with a nod. "I just have to go and record these results and then I will be back. I shall leave you in Mr Potter's capable hands until then."

He watched her leave and then he looked at Harry; he needed some answers.

"What's going on?" he asked as loudly as he could manage.

"I'm a wizard," Harry said simply, "and so is Parkinson. It's why I was sent to catch him; I'm what we call an Auror, I track dark wizards."

Johnny had seen things, felt things, but he couldn't really make himself believe it.

"Magic is real," he said eventually, more to make himself think it than to ask the question.

"Very," Harry replied and sounded apologetic, "and you have been the victim of the worst kind. Parkinson is safely locked up now; he can't hurt anyone else."

His memory was unfortunately unfuzzy and Johnny shivered as Harry's words brought back what had happened. In desperation he tried to focus his mind on something else.

"With Adam," he said, as his thoughts grabbed at anything, "there was magic with Adam."

Harry nodded.

"Your memory was altered after the incident to forget about the magic," Harry told him and he began to feel righteous indignation; "everything else you remember though, happened."

"My memory?" he all but hissed.

"I'm sorry, Johnny," Harry said and did sound as if he really was, "it's the law. Muggles aren't allowed to know about magic. It's safer for you and us."

It sounded so sincere, but Johnny didn't like it at all. People doing things to other people's thoughts was just plain wrong. It also occurred to him that he still remembered about magic and, from what Harry had said, that was illegal.

"Are you going to make me forget all this now?" he asked, suddenly afraid.

The idea of anyone messing with his mind was a little horrifying.

"No," Harry assured him and patted his hand gently; "you've been through far too much for that. The situation is way beyond the situations those laws were designed for and no one will be messing with anyone's memory. The cover story given to the press is that you were kidnapped and tortured using electro nerve stimulation, but your family and those involved know the truth."

"Evan?" Johnny suddenly remembered who else had been there.

His brain really wasn't working very fast, even with the help of whatever the healer had poured down his throat.

"Is fine," was the immediate response. "He told us everything that happened. He was being controlled by Parkinson, but he was perfectly alright as soon as the spell was ended."

That was a relief at least; he and Evan were not exactly friends, but he wouldn't wish bad things on anyone.

"Controlled?"

"There is a spell," Harry explained and there was a haunted look in his eyes, "it's one of the three that our society calls Unforgivables. It allows a wizard to control the actions and thoughts of another. Parkinson used it on Evan to trap you. One of the other Unforgivables was the spell Parkinson used on you; it's only function is to cause pain."

Johnny shivered again.

"I heard something about nerve damage," he said trying to push away the memories.

"The spell overloads the nervous system," Harry told him, "and with prolonged exposure it causes nerve damage, but don't worry, that part is easily fixed. The healers will have you back to normal in no time."

He remembered the healer saying something about that as he woke up, but it was comforting to hear it reiterated.

"What can't they fix?" He voiced the part that was worrying him.

"The mind," was the simple answer. "We were worried you weren't going to wake up at all. Victims often don't, but you're clearly made of sterner stuff than most."

Harry sounded almost proud of him for that, Johnny just tried not to think about it.

"Probably just lucky," he said quietly.

"Johnny," Harry said and carefully took his hand, "I've been there. Not for as long as you, but I've felt it. Surviving has nothing to do with luck, it's all about will. If ... when you're ready to talk about it, I understand, okay?"

He looked closely at Harry's face then and he saw a reflection of pain deep in Harry's stunningly green eyes. Nodding slowly he agreed, but he wasn't even ready to think about it yet.

"You mentioned my family," he said, doing his best to keep himself distracted.

"Your mum has barely left your side since you've been here," Harry said with a small smile; "she is a very formidable woman. She took the whole magic thing very calmly."

That made Johnny smile as well; Patti was not someone who was easily thrown by anything.

"Evan took her to find some breakfast while Healer Gladstone did your morning examination," Harry continued to explain.

Johnny's brain did a quick stall.

"Evan?" he asked, because he only knew one Evan and his mom did not like that Evan at all.

The way Harry smiled suggested Harry might have an inkling about why he was shocked.

"He asked to see you as soon as the healers gave him a clean bill of health," Harry said, still smiling, "and he and your mum spoke for some time. I think they appointed themselves your Muggle guardians among all of us wizards."

Evan and Patti allied together; Johnny wasn't sure if that was comforting or terrifying.

"Will they ..." He had been about to ask if Evan and his mom would be back soon, but he was interrupted by an enormous yawn. It took him completely by surprise and he couldn't even tone it down.

"Looks like you need to sleep," Harry suggested with a soft smile.

"But Patti," Johnny tried to object.

"Will be here when you wake up again," Harry said as Johnny began to realise his eyelids were drooping again. "Don't fight it, Johnny; your body knows best."

"Been asleep for three days," he pointed out, but his voice was soft and felt woolly around the edges.

"Go to sleep," Harry said, squeezing his hand gently, and Johnny didn't have to strength to argue.

====

Johnny had been staring at Evan reading a magazine for almost a minute before he even realised that his eyes were open. It took his brain that long to figure out he wasn't sleeping anymore. Evan looked somewhat dishevelled; his hair was unstyled, he had stubble and his clothes looked more thrown on than chosen. It was a strangely attractive look on Evan, which was the thought Johnny's mind decided to kick start while having and he finally blinked.

That was the kind of thought he hadn't had since he and Evan had really started the rivalry and it was unsettling to wake up thinking it. If his head hadn't chosen that moment to inform him it was aching he might have been more worried.

"Ow," he said as the thumping made itself known.

"Johnny," Evan said, sounding half pleased and half genuinely concerned, "you're awake. Do you need me to get a nurse ... um ... I mean healer?"

He made a non-committal noise; he wasn't actually sure.

"I'll call someone," Evan decided at which point Johnny made up his mind.

"No," he said as he came to the conclusion that was a bad idea, "I'll be okay."

His head was aching, but it wasn't too bad and he didn't like medication. The potion Healer Gladstone had fed him tasted bad and even though it didn't seem to have had any of the side effects of normal medicine, he still didn't want any more.

"Thanks," he added as an afterthought.

His thoughts seemed to be working faster than they had been before and he blinked and looked around the room.

"Where's Patti?" he asked, surprised that Evan was there and his mom wasn't.

"Talking to Healer Gladstone about how long you need to stay here and what after care you'll need now that you're awake," Evan said, clearly parroting off information he had been given.

It said quite a lot to Johnny's psyche that he didn't find that anywhere as annoying as he used to do. Clearly Evan had changed brackets in his head, but then when it came to people looking after his mom when he couldn't, it tended to mean a lot to Johnny.

"I hope the answer is not long and not much," he said and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Everyone seemed quite excited that you were awake," Evan told him, looking what Johnny thought was probably hopeful; he was out of practice reading Evan.

Once they had been friends, but that seemed like such a long time ago.

"Shame it's not just a matter of waving one of those wands," he replied and then did his very best not to shudder.

He was more than aware that the memory of a stick pointed at him was going to haunt his thoughts for a while.

"I heard something about a couple of days," Evan said and sounded as if he was trying to cheer Johnny up.

While appreciating the sentiment, Johnny didn't find it that easy to let go of the recollection that was bothering him. It was also clear that Evan had shadows of his own to deal with as an awkward silence fell.

"Well you'll need to get back on the ice as soon as possible to be ready for Worlds," Evan said in that earnest tone he had in what appeared to be a desperate attempt to change the subject.

Johnny was pretty sure he should be certified for finding it kind of cute. Just because Evan was being friendly did not mean it was time for any of the feeling he might have once had for his rival to surface. He was so busy thinking about that, that it took him a second to realise what Evan had actually said.

"I made it?" he asked as the idea finally resolved in his head.

The fact that he had been incapacitated before he had heard the final result only then dawned on him. It was incredibly important, but seemed so distant after what had happened.

"Oh, of course, you don't know," Evan said, eyes going wide with realisation, "oh, no, I should have let your mom tell you."

Evan appeared pathetically worried; Johnny almost wanted to laugh. It was a nice distraction.

"Well you didn't," he said and would have rolled his eyes if he hadn't thought it would exacerbate his headache, "so spill; what were the final placings."

Evan's expression was kind of panicked.

"Evan," he said in a warning tone.

"You came first, I came second, Jeremy came third because he fell," Evan finally confessed.

For a few seconds Johnny forgot about everything else and gave a whoop of joy. It never occurred to him not to sit up and throw his arms around a very startled Evan and give the other skater a hug.

"Oh crap," he said as his jubilance became a nauseating room spinning and he came over all lightheaded and weak.

"Johnny, you're an idiot," Evan said, proving that he wasn't as much of a wimp as he seemed to have been trying to pretend.

"Winning idiot," Johnny countered as Evan helped him lie back on his pillows.

When he could look up again, Evan was actually smiling at that. Sometimes he forgot that Evan had a sense of humour, but he smiled back, enjoying the camaraderie. Everything was so weird, but he felt kind of closer to Evan, because they had shared part of it.

"I promise not to fall out of bed if you'll tell me what I've missed," he said with what he hoped was a winning batting of his eyelashes.

Evan actually rolled his eyes.

"If your mom kills me it's your fault," Evan told him, but then started to explain what had happened while he was asleep.

He was quite surprised by how comfortable the whole situation felt.

====

Rest and relaxation, that was the order of the day, and Johnny made himself stay in bed even though every instinct told him he should be on the ice. Healer Gladstone assured him he would be fully recovered soon, but they couldn't rush the treatments. Until they were finished he had strict instructions to do as little as possible and eat what was put in front of him. Patti was enjoying the last part far too much; she always worried about what he ate.

A new email popped up as he scanned his laptop and he clicked on it. It was from Tanith, but the message only read, 'you should see this' with a URL. It was a Youtube link so he clicked it and waited. What came up was Evan and it was some form of newscast.

"Evan, what do you think of the USFSA's proposal?" a reporter off screen asked.

"It's disgusting," Evan said in no uncertain terms.

Johnny hadn't heard of any proposal and he began to worry.

"Rerunning the men's competition would be plain wrong," Evan continued vehemently. "The only reason they suggested it is because Adam is ready to compete and Johnny isn't."

Ice ran up Johnny's spine as he listened. The USFSA couldn't do that to him, could they? If they reran the competition they would take away his title, declare it void, and he'd have to do it all again.

"There was disruption at the nationals," Evan was not stopping talking; very unusual for him, "but we all competed. Adam is a great guy, but he was down for competition. We all know what that feels like. He didn't ask to be kidnapped and hit over the head, but none of us ask for a broken toe or a sprained ankle either. Johnny won, fair and square; he was so damn good they couldn't mark him down, and he should lead us to the Worlds. If he chooses not to, then that's up to him, but the USFSA can't take that away from him."

Evan appeared positively furious.

"If they try," Evan said firmly and looked right into the camera, "I for one won't be there."

Johnny sat there with his mouth open. He didn't know what to think. Evan was not only defending him, his biggest rival was putting his career on the line.

"That was two hours ago," the reporter said as the report showed clips from the men's free skate, "when Evan Lysacek led the protest again the USFSA's proposal to re-run the men's figure skating national competition. So far fifteen of those who competed this year have added their names to the list who say they will not compete again. Included is last year's winner, Jeremy Abbott as well as the skater at the centre of the controversy, Adam Rippon."

He couldn't believe it, he really couldn't. The powers that be were conspiring against him, but above that, his fellow skaters were going up against them. For a moment he felt a bit light headed; he wasn't very good at dealing with shocks to his system at the moment.

Of course that was the moment Evan decided to walk in and Johnny's equilibrium went flip and he burst into tears. The expression of panic on Evan's face might have made him laugh if he hadn't been on an emotional rollercoaster. From the way Evan looked around the room desperately, Johnny was pretty sure that Evan was hoping Patti would pop out from under the bed or something to help. Johnny just buried his face in his hands and carried on crying; he couldn't help it.

"Johnny," Evan's voice was a little scared, but very gentle as he spoke and a long, warm arm was draped carefully around Johnny's shoulders.

It was all the permission Johnny needed and he reached out blindly, wrapping his arms around Evan and burying his face in Evan's shirt. Definitely not what he had intended, but apparently what he really needed, because he kind of dissolved into a blubbering mess as all the emotions that had been bubbling around inside him all broke free.

Also, it seemed, Evan was not as bad in a crying crisis as Johnny might have suspected, because after the initial awkwardness, Evan seemed to get with the program and gently embraced him back. He was pretty sure there were meaningless platitudes being spoken, but all that he really cared about was the large hand making slow circles on his back in a very calming manner.

It took what felt like an inordinately long time to get himself back under control and when he finally drew back, Evan handed him a couple of Kleenex.

"Sorry," he apologised, feeling more than a little stupid.

"Don't worry about it," Evan replied and looked perfectly sincere. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Johnny took a deep breath and dabbed his eyes and nose. He was uncomfortably aware of the big wet patch that was now on the front of Evan's shirt.

"Tanith sent me a link to your latest news spot," he said, feeling a little bereft now that he was no longer in Evan's arms.

"Oh," Evan said, catching on fast, "oh, you don't have to worry about that. They already ruled. The ISU got involved and the results stand."

The urge to cry was suddenly back, but Johnny also realised that it wasn't really that which had set him off.

"Thank you," he said, feeling the gratitude welling up in him, "thank you for standing up for me."

Evan sat down on the edge of the bed, looking at him with a very serious expression.

"What they were trying to do was completely wrong," Evan said with a resolution Johnny had only ever seen in him on the ice. "You won fair and square; you were brilliant; they had no right to even suggest it."

"I embarrass them," he said quietly, knowing it was true.

"It's about time they grew up then," Evan said and totally seemed to mean it.

Johnny sniffed again as he felt overwhelmed for a second time and a tears rolled free no matter how he tried to stop it. Usually he had defences, long held beliefs and reasons he could hide behind, but he had been stripped bare. He was vulnerable and open and he just couldn't stop his reactions bubbling to the surface.

"Sorry," he apologised again, feeling incredibly awkward for melting down on the man who had already moved from rival to friend in his head.

He shut his eyes and tried to get a hold of himself. What shocked him into not completely folding again was the sudden feeling of soft lips on his own. He gasped and opened his eyes and stared as Evan pulled back, cheeks slowly heating up.

"Sorry," it was Evan's turn to apologise, "it seemed ... I ... I didn't want you to cry again."

Evan looked like he was about to bolt.

"Why?" Johnny's thoughts were spinning.

Evan stood.

"I'm sorry."

"Evan, tell me why you kissed me," Johnny insisted, throwing out his hand to grab Evan's arm.

Evan just stood there looking like he wanted to break away and run.

"Evan," Johnny said in a warning tone; he was in no mood for games.

"I ... kind of ... wanted to." It was dragged out of Evan word by word.

Johnny couldn't remotely pretend he wasn't stunned by that response. Evan wasn't a spontaneous person, not usually and Johnny wouldn't have known how to deal with sudden kissing at the best of times.

"How long," was what he asked eventually; "how long have you wanted to?"

It felt as if they were at a very delicate moment and Johnny didn't quite know what to do.

"When did I start being nasty to you?" Evan replied awkwardly.

Johnny's mouth fell open in shock.

"Oh my god," he said as realisation dawned, "you were pulling my pigtails."

"You pulled back," Evan replied with all the emotional maturity that his previous behaviour suggested.

"Because I thought you were just being a dick," Johnny replied, but couldn't help lifting his hand to touch his lips.

Evan had never been a people person and Johnny couldn't help wondering how much else about Evan he had read wrong. Evan still looked terrified and it dawned on Johnny quite how much courage kissing him must have actually taken.

"Did you want to kiss me again?" he asked as gently as he knew how.

If Evan said no he was pretty sure his heart would shatter and he'd be so much mess on the floor, but he owed it to them both to take the same risk Evan had. Very slowly Evan sat down again and then very carefully leaned in. This time the kiss came from both sides. Evan's stubble was scratchy, but his lips were soft and Johnny let himself sink into the kiss. They were still kissing when the door opened.

"Oops, sorry, I'll come back later."

That was Patti's voice and Evan kind of jumped back, blushing furiously when he heard it. Johnny found himself smiling.

"Mama, you don't have to go," he said, before his mother could close the door again. "Please come in."

Patti did step in then and quietly closed the door behind her.

"You boys looked busy," she said and Johnny couldn't help noticing his mother's eyes were very firmly on Evan.

Evan was still blushing the most adorable colour.

"Um," Evan didn't seem to know what to say to that.

"Plenty of time for that," Johnny said and then realised that he had just opened himself up to a possible world of hurt with those few words.

The slightly shocked look on Evan's face made Johnny feel even more vulnerable.

"Um," Evan said again, "would ... um ... would you like to go on a date?"

Johnny's inner girl jumped up and down and squealed and clapped her hands, on the outside he just sat there, once again stunned. Then he smiled and it felt as if his face was going to split.

"I'd love to," he said and he could barely remember why he had been crying.

"Awww," his mom said with a little sigh, "that it so adorable; I wish I had my camera."

Now Johnny remembered he had an embarrassment reflex and blushed right along with Evan.

"Mama!" he said in a scandalised tone.

His mother just smiled.

"Evan, dear," Patti said, still smiling, "do we really need to have the conversation that involves words like 'broken heart' and 'pain' and 'missing limbs'?"

Evan paled.

"No, Ma'am," was the immediate response and Johnny wasn't sure if he should be mortified or proud.

====

"So," Harry said, sitting down in the chair next to Johnny's bed, "did Evan finally make a move or did you figure it out first?"

Johnny looked at the other man in shock. Harry had been in the room for about five minutes, but so far all they had done was talk about Johnny finally being allowed out of the hospital.

"How did you..?"

"I may have been dense once, but I've trained myself to be more observant," Harry told him with a grin. "I'm not sure if Evan could have been broadcasting louder with a neon sign. Every time I walked in the room he prickled."

Johnny couldn't help wondering if Evan had been obvious for longer than that and he had just been missing it, or if this was a new thing.

"He kissed me, if you must know," he said eventually, deciding that there was no point in dwelling on the past, "and then I made him confess. I think the skating world has a hell of a lot to answer for; the poor lamb has the emotional maturity of a teenager."

Harry smiled at that.

"And I take it you've assigned yourself the task of changing that?" was the amused question.

Harry didn't seem to be the least bit upset that their fledging affair was well and truly off.

"I never thought of it before it happened," Johnny admitted quietly, feeling as if he could talk to Harry, "but I think I might have had a thing for Evan for a while. I was shocked when he kissed me, but the moment I realised he was serious I was all 'mine', 'keep'."

That revelation was met with a quiet laugh.

"I don't blame you," Harry said with another genuine smile; "he's definitely worth fighting for. Really big hands I noticed."

That made Johnny laugh.

"I'm not sure if I should be offended that you are taking rejection so calmly," he said, even though he was quite pleased that Harry didn't seem to mind.

"I'm happily married," Harry said and grinned, "and I make it a rule never to let a little fun sex get in the way of a real relationship."

That made Johnny smile fondly; Harry's marriage was definitely unconventional, but it was abundantly obvious that Harry really did love his wife. Then it dawned on him what Harry was hinting about him and Evan.

"I'm not sure it's a real relationship," he said, looking down at his fingers and playing with his nails, "we haven't even been on a date yet."

"Yeah, and I'm a Muggle," Harry said in a very dismissive tone.

When Johnny looked up, Harry was rolling his eyes at him.

"It could go disastrously wrong," he protested, "I don't want to get my hopes up."

Harry rolled his eyes some more.

"Johnny, I've known you for a couple of days and even I know it's too late for that."

That was one of Johnny's big problems, when he let his heart into things there was no turning back.

"Just keep remembering the 'keep' and 'mine' instincts and you'll be fine," Harry told him and patted his hand gently. "Honestly, I think if you say jump, Evan will ask how high."

There were so many reasons it might not work: they were competitors for a start; then there was the whole Evan being completely in the closet problem; followed of course by the fact they had basically been at war for several years. Johnny couldn't help thinking about all of that, but he had to admit Harry had a point.

"Hell," he said, deciding it wasn't worth thinking of maybes when life was so short, "if the worst comes to the worst we can go be OCD together. I'll clean everything and he can arrange it all in threes."

"See," Harry said and laughed, "you're perfect for each other."

There was a light knock at the door and Johnny looked up to see a very awkward looking Evan standing there. He felt a smile cover his face almost instantly and that really told him all he needed to know.

"Evan," he said and he honestly felt his mood brighten, "come in."

When he held out his hand Evan walked over and took it, but he could tell that Evan was doing his best not to frown at Harry. It was adorable really; he had had no idea that Evan was remotely the jealous type.

"Harry came to help me plan my escape from the evil clutches of Healer Glastone," he said in his best dramatic tone.

"Ha," Harry said, with a shake of his head, "if you think I'm going up against a healer you have another think coming. Healers are scarier than any dark wizard I have ever met. But I can give you a police escort to your hotel once she does let you go if it'll help."

That made Johnny pause for a moment.

"But the bad guy's all locked up," he pointed out, suddenly worried that there was something no one had bothered to tell him.

"Yes, but you haven't seen the army of fans that are camped outside this very hospital," Harry replied with a grin.

Johnny wasn't quite sure what to make of that. He was used to a handful of fans turning up most places he went, but Harry didn't seem to be talking about that. Wondering if it was bizarre British humour, he looked to Evan for an explanation.

"There have to be a couple of hundred," Evan said with a shrug, "they must have come from all over. There was almost a riot when they heard about the USFSA thing yesterday."

It was more than a little bit of a shock and Johnny didn't know quite how to react.

"Get used to it," Harry said with a laugh and stood up, "you're a hero now. I'll leave you two love birds alone, call me when Healer Gladstone relents."

When Johnny finally kicked his brain back into gear, he looked at Evan to find that his prospective boyfriend had a very puzzled expression on his face.

"Why..?" Evan began to ask, but Johnny decided he wasn't in the mood for talking any more.

Dragging Evan down to his level, he demanded a kiss and was rewarded by an enthusiastic response and a delightful little moan from Evan. Clearly they should have been doing this for years, but Johnny refused to regret the past and just began looking forward to the future.

 **The End**   



End file.
